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Summary: Captures the picture!
Review: I lived in Atlanta for five years (mostly geogia Tech and what Wolfe calls white-atlanta), then moved to the SF bay area, living in the east bay for several months, so I can really relate to the settings in the story. I can say Tom Wolfe captures the picture! The story was pretty good, but somehow the last chapter lost steam. Over all, I found it to be very entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Most over rated book I've read in a long time.
Review: I once heard a minister say if it takes longer than 20 minutes to get his message across he loses his audience and is likely to repeat himself. Tom Wolfe should have taken a lesson from him, I found the book extremely redundant. This is the most over rated, disappointing book I've read since "The Bridges of Madison County".
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Summary: Please explain The Cup routine on Page 228
Review: Am still reading the book but have been stumped by the Cup used by Serena on Charlie on page 228 in hardcover book. My wife and several friends also have no idea of what this is. Can someone explain it to me. Sounds somewhat exciting.Email me if you know what this refers to. Thanks
Rating:
Summary: Good, but it doesn't top"Bonfire", because of weak ending
Review: I thought "Bonfire of the Vanities" was one of the greatest books ever written, and again, Wolfe starts out with all the elements of success. But he sets up an intriguing situation at page 125, and we won't see that situation for another 600 pages. A minor character takes over much of the middle of this thick book, and eventually leads the proceedings down an unfulfilling path. I was angry at the end as to the fate of our hero, Charlie Crocker. Not because it wasn't original, but because it wasn't true. Great first 500 pages!
Rating:
Summary: good but some noticeable flaws
Review: The characters in "Man" were better developed than in "Bonfire." However, the story in Wolfe's latest novel doesn't have the same sort of sharp, focused satirical edge of his first. In "Bonfire" we knew exactly what he was skewering: opportunism in money-fevered 1980's NYC. But Atlanta? The late 1990's? The subject matter is less asured but the characters are more likable and the descriptions are wonderful as always (I've never been to Atlanta but now I feel like I have). The ending, while a bit of a sell out and somewhat hastily written (Wolfe's editor at FSG probably said to the master, "END IT ALREADY!"), is better constructed in form than in "Bonfire." It's good, but has some noticeable flaws. Still, I couldn't put it down and that's the real acid-test for any book.
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Summary: Every line is a work of Wolfe art!!
Review: Even though the book itself weighs a ton (its only negative), I consider A Man in Full another Tom Wolfe masterpiece. The descriptions of everything from an orchestra concert to life in the county jail are poetry in prose form. What emotion! What drama! What perfect adjectives! I love you, Mr. Wolfe!
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Summary: Racist portrayal of blacks almost ruined a good novel.
Review: I bought this book despite many friends telling me about the racist portrayal of African American charaters. Their comments did not stop me because my love of literature would not allow me to ignore a book so highly touted. I cannot deny that many of the characters were excellently developed and the ultimate message of the author was good, however I did not appreciate the manner in which African Americans were portrayed. Wolfe's racist generalizations about the class struggles within the African American community were blown out of proportion and without any appropriate context. While these generalizations may have been due to the author's lack of knowlegde, I found them insulting. I must admit that although I was often insulted I did finish the book in about 3 days and found it enjoyable. I would advise African Americans and others of good will to wait until it comes out in paperback or better yet borrow it from the library.
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Summary: O Zeus! O loins! O corona of hair!
Review: Perhaps I began to get nit-picky about the repetition of certain terms when I realized there was little else to sink my teeth into. With the oft-absorbing descriptions and fleeting moments of humor (like the comment made about the "teaser" at the horse mating scene- 'sounds like me in high school') the self-indulgent length of this book works against it. And the two-dimensionality of the women is utterly distracting. Loamy, loiny, boys with breasts. Some of the terms seem to be taken straight from a cheap romance novel. And all theimprovised rap lyrics are somehow embarrassing to read. As an Atlanta native, I purchased this book eager to read Tom Wolfe's treatment of the city I grew up in. But despite the novelty of recognizing some of the locations, the improvisations on stuff like names-Peepgass, Croker, Buck McNutter-are as false as the characters that Wolfe "created". Peepgass?! Are we supposed to believe that Martha (sad, thick shoulders and all) was so bereft of honor and self-worth that, as we are so brusquely informed, she marries him? I became less and less concerned about what point I was at in the plot than when and how it would end. How was I to know that the world of Charlie Croker would end, to quote TS Eliot, "not with a bang, but a whimper"?
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Summary: Literature it ain't
Review: This book is like a summer blockbuster action movie - easy to sit though, but leaving no meaningful impression. That this collection of stereotypical characters and trite plot resolutions got nominated for book awards is a tribute to its impressive marketing campaign, not its content. I enjoyed Wolfe's other books far more. His time seems past.
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Summary: More There There
Review: I found this book an interesting tale of redemption. I haven't read any Wolfe except "Radical Chic," so I don't know if he has a thread like this running through his other books, but I found a strong emphasis on what I suppose one could call "right living." Conrad is clearly Wolfe's exemplar of moral uprightness: honest, hard-working, kind, and just. When he and Charlie's paths cross, Conrad serves as an instructor and an inspiration. There was a lot of what Christians (and perhaps others) call "grace" in this novel: seemingly chance events and encounters that are actually bestowed upon people by God (or Zeus!).I also loved all of the description and detail. Wolfe captures manners, material culture, life in '90s America--and esp. life in the South--accurately, entertainingly, and, at times, movingly. I read maybe one bestseller every ten years or so, and am a self-proclaimed snob about most things. I picked up "A Man in Full" in December to have a light read, and was surprised to find a lot more in it than I'd expected. I wouldn't say it's Great Literature, but it's not trash, either.
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